Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT.

Fukushima operator TEPCO wants to extract 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods stored in a pool at the plant’s damaged Reactor No. 4. The removal would have to be done manually from the top store of the damaged building in the radiation-contaminated environment.

In the worst-case scenario, a mishandled rod may go critical, resulting in an above-ground meltdown releasing radioactive fallout with no way to stop it, said Consolo, who is the founder and host of Nuked Radio. But leaving the things as they are is not an option, because statistical risk of a similarly bad outcome increases every day, she said.

RT: How serious is the fuel rod situation compared to the danger of contaminated water build-up which we already know about?

Christina Consolo: Although fuel rod removal happens on a daily basis at the 430+ nuclear sites around the world, it is a very delicate procedure even under the best of circumstances. What makes fuel removal at Fukushima so dangerous and complex is that it will be attempted on a fuel pool whose integrity has been severely compromised. However, it must be attempted as Reactor 4 has the most significant problems structurally, and this pool is on the top floor of the building.

There are numerous other reasons that this will be a dangerous undertaking.

- The racks inside the pool that contain this fuel were damaged by the explosion in the early days of the accident.

- Zirconium cladding which encased the rods burned when water levels dropped, but to what extent the rods have been damaged is not known, and probably won't be until removal is attempted.

- Saltwater cooling has caused corrosion of the pool walls, and probably the fuel rods and racks.

- The building is sinking.

- The cranes that normally lift the fuel were destroyed.

- Computer-guided removal will not be possible; everything will have to be done manually.

- TEPCO cannot attempt this process without humans, which will manage this enormous task while being bombarded with radiation during the extraction and casking.

- The process of removing each rod will have to be repeated over 1,300 times without incident.

- Moving damaged nuclear fuel under such complex conditions could result in a criticality if the rods come into close proximity to one another, which would then set off a chain reaction that cannot be stopped.

What could potentially happen is the contents of the pool could burn and/or explode, and the entire structure sustain further damage or collapse. This chain reaction process could be self-sustaining and go on for a long time. This is the apocalyptic scenario in a nutshell.

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

And all this collateral damage will continue for decades, if not centuries, even if things stay exactly the way they are now. But that is unlikely, as bad things happen like natural disasters and deterioration with time...earthquakes, subsidence, and corrosion, to name a few. Every day that goes by, the statistical risk increases for this apocalyptic scenario. No one can say or know how this will play out, except that millions of people will probably die even if things stay exactly as they are, and billions could die if things get any worse.

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

There is another thread just like yours with hardly any response I don't understand why people are not interested in possibly the worst disaster mankind has ever faced, and its true what they say that mankind will one day end up destroying himself, but it seems a lot of people here would rather discuss make belief. There are some really good informative posts on here sometimes but they seem to get ignored

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

There is another thread just like yours with hardly any response I don't understand why people are not interested in possibly the worst disaster mankind has ever faced, and its true what they say that mankind will one day end up destroying himself, but it seems a lot of people here would rather discuss make belief. There are some really good informative posts on here sometimes but they seem to get ignored

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 45302375

Yeah there is a pinned thread on this but it isn't titled very clearly so I started this one

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

More from the article...

RT: Finally, what is the worst case scenario? What level of contamination are we looking at and how dire would the consequences be for the long-term health of the region?

CC: Extremely dire. This is a terrible answer to have to give, but the worst case scenario could play out in death to billions of people. A true apocalypse. Since we have been discussing Reactor 4, I'll stick to that problem in particular, but also understand that a weather event, power outage, earthquake, tsunami, cooling system failure, or explosion and fire in any way, shape, or form, at any location on the Fukushima site, could cascade into an event of that magnitude as well.

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

She mentioned the 1,300 rods having to be removed manually, by workers wearing uncomfortable, bulky, hot radiation protection gear and being rotated in and out at frequent, set intervals. Thus being prone to anxiety and possibly error.

An expansion on that already gloomy proposition. What are the odds of at least one of those workers feeling woozy before his shift is over and dropping the rod. I say odds are pretty good. Not in our favour, though.

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

... oh, and I think I know why RT printed such Rated-R doom. from the article:

" 'Unfortunately there is no one better qualified to deal with this than the Russians, despite their own shortcomings'

I think the best chance of success is…that experts around the world drop everything they are doing to work on this problem, and have Russia either lead the containment effort or consult with them closely. They have the most experience, they have decades of data. They took their accident seriously and made a Herculean effort to contain it. "

They're trying to sound the horn to Japan. "We're coming! Like it or not!"

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

... oh, and I think I know why RT printed such Rated-R doom. from the article:

" 'Unfortunately there is no one better qualified to deal with this than the Russians, despite their own shortcomings'

I think the best chance of success is…that experts around the world drop everything they are doing to work on this problem, and have Russia either lead the containment effort or consult with them closely. They have the most experience, they have decades of data. They took their accident seriously and made a Herculean effort to contain it. "

They're trying to sound the horn to Japan. "We're coming! Like it or not!"

Re: Fukushima Apocalypse leading to millions of deaths imminent! from RT

millions? 90% of the population lives in the northern hemisphere and is getting healthy doses of radioactive goodness everyday, right down to their bones. I would say 6 billion some odd people have less than 40 years to live now.

do the math, what harm would a few million casualties matter... everyone is walking dead.